Indonesia's Mineral Exchange and Single-Door Export Policy Should Not Be Seen as Curbing Business

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Chairman of Commission XII of the House of Representatives (DPR RI), Bambang Patijaya, believes the government’s plan to form a mineral exchange and implement a single-door export mechanism through PT Danantara Sumberdaya Indonesia (PT DSI) should not be seen as an effort to curb the business world. According to him, since the 1998 Reform era, Indonesia has tended to adopt a more liberal market system, making the space for business players very open. However, President Prabowo’s policy to strengthen the state’s role in managing natural resources is an effort to restore the mandate of Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution. “So it’s like this, we have to admit that since the end of the Reform era, from 1998 until now, Indonesia has leaned more towards a neoliberal market form. So everything became so free. Then when President Prabowo with his policies wants to restore Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution, both Paragraph 2 and Paragraph 3, it seems like it’s curbing,” Bambang told CNBC Indonesia in the Economic Update programme on Wednesday (24/6/2026). He stressed that the business world is still given space to carry out its activities. However, the government needs to be present to regulate and control strategic sectors that concern the public interest. In addition, he assessed that export regulation is necessary so that the benefits of foreign trade can be more optimally felt by the national economy. Bambang also highlighted findings that despite Indonesia’s trade balance recording a surplus, not all export proceeds are repatriated to the country. “Actually, this is more about how the government wants to intervene, but in a way that is more comfortable according to market mechanisms. For example, a commodity exchange. Just trade here, trade here only. That’s not curbing or lengthening bureaucracy, is it? It’s the same,” he said.